"When I was dating, it really mattered what music they (women) loved," Trucks said. "Weirdly, it could be a deal-breaker. I guess I'm a music snob in some sense. I have a low b.s. threshhold."

Fortunately, Trucks and Tedeschi agreed about the considerable musical merits of Mahalia Jackson, Magic Sam (Samuel Maghett), John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and others: "We had the same music disease. To go back and dig."

They dug it so much, they became husband and wife in 2001. In 2010, they married their talents with nine other musicians to form the horn-powered Tedeschi Trucks Band.

Their first album won a Grammy Award and their new one - "Tedeschi Trucks Band: Everybody's Talkin' " - further reveals the earthy, spiritual mixture of American roots music and jam-band elaboration that resulted from their connection.

Tedeschi, originally from Boston, was leading her own band as a bluesy singer-songwriter when they met. Trucks' pedigree - he was named after Derek & the Dominos, a 1970 group led by Eric Clapton - includes playing with the Allman Brothers Band as a teenager.

Parents of two children, their relationship remains harmonious.

"It's pretty amazing," said Trucks, 33, whose slide-guitar riffs ideally complement Tedeschi's soulful vocals. "On the road 200 days a year with our own bands, we were going in all different directions. It's a trade-off with petty things that come up. It's really exciting.

"We're growing a lot musically and personally. It's fun. You can feel the constant confirmation that you're on the right track. With such a big band there's always so much to deal with that we don't direct it at each other. It's like having nine children."

The ability of the 41-year-old Tedeschi - Bonnie Raitt is an obvious vocal reference point - to lead such a large and potent all-male group isn't an issue.

"It takes a powerful person to be alone, standing in front, to carry it and make it fly," Trucks said from a tour stop in Grand Prairie, Texas. "She has the voice and mentality. I can't think of any other person - male or female - who could step into that role with a big, powerful, loud band, stand up and ride the wave and somehow control it.

"We're kinda finding our spot and getting our sea legs. Every eight months, I feel the band takes a huge step forward. We couldn't do it if she couldn't do it."

Trucks, born in Jacksonville, Fla., started learning about that as a child. He grew up suffused in music. His uncle, Claude "Butch" Trucks, was a drummer in the Allman Brothers Band.

Trucks bought his first guitar for $5 at a garage sale when he was 9. He got his initial paid gig at 11 and, by 13, was touring with an Allman reunion band and appearing with Buddy Guy.

Influenced by the late Duane Allman and Elmore James, Trucks adapted the slithery, soulful slide style that he continues to perfect. He twice has been named to Rolling Stone magazine's list of the top 100 rock guitarists.

"The first time, it was completely unexpected," he said of being ranked No. 15. "When I heard they were doing a second one, it was another kind of dread. 'What if I'm not on it?' "

He was No. 16: "I was pretty stoked. This time it was other musicians (deciding). They asked for my top 25. I wasn't on it."

At 20, he became a regular member of the Allman Brothers Band, also touring with Clapton, Bob Dylan and other major role models. He formed his own Derek Trucks Band in 1996, recording eight albums by 2010.

In 2007, he and Tedeschi - who has recorded seven albums of her own since 1995 - merged their bands into Soul Stew Revival, leading to the creation of Tedeschi Trucks. "Revelator," their 2011 debut, won a Grammy Award. The Derek Trucks Band's "Already Free" (2009) also won one.

"It's a really nice confirmation that people like what we're putting out," Trucks said. "It's a really good feeling - as close to 100 percent as you can get - while you're making an album."

While putting together the two-CD "Everybody's Talkin'," Trucks experienced that emotion with the title tune - a Fred Neil song popularized by Harry Nilsson in "Midnight Cowboy," a 1969 movie.

Inspired more by Bill Withers' soul-funk version, the Tedeschi Trucks arrangement seemed somehow emblematic. During "two hours, everybody gets to step up," Trucks said of the band's show. "It has a great connotation. Obviously, everybody in the band actually is talking."

The album, which mixes Southern rock, jam rock, soul, funk, gospel, blues and New Orleans mojo, includes gritty versions of the Lovin' Spoonful's "Darling Be Home Soon," Stevie Wonder's "Uptight," James' "Rollin' and Tumblin' " and "Wade in the Water," a 1901 black spiritual.

Trucks and Tedeschi got to dig their musical roots on Feb. 12, playing with Guy, B.B. King and other blues musicians at the White House.

"We've had some amazing opportunities," said Trucks, whose band has been opening for the 86-year-old King this summer. "A whole bucket list of material. Being onstage with my wife. Watching B.B. hold court with all those people. His life is something really special."

King doesn't play slide guitar, but his style has impacted Trucks' approach.

"The way he plays is similar to slide," Trucks said. "Really lyrical. We're kinda all coming from the same place. It (slide guitar) connects to the human voice. It's like singing to your instrument. Having that conversational ability. Like when someone is drumming and you hear their breath."

Trucks started talking to his childhood guitar in July. It had hung in his garage for 10 years until he recently had it repaired.

"When I first started playing it again, it was amazing how it sounded," he said. "It brings back memories and makes you feel 9 years old again. A kind of weird innocence and fear.

"My father always pointed out: Do it all with one note. Make it count."